What books are we Reading in May?

Just finshished a new paranormal mystery. Sue Ann Jaffarain's Ghost in a Polka Dot Bikini. It was just okay. Seemed to drag in spots. Granny Apple is still the best character. Not sure I will read book 3  in the series.

Alice

Bummer to hear that Alice!  I really liked the first book in that series, and have been considering actually buying Ghost in a Polka Dot Bikini new because it's moving sooooo slowly on my wishlist.   The first book was one of the few paranormal cozies that actually made shivers run down my spine (in a good way) - and I loved the Granny Apples character.   But I'm really curious now and still want to read it for myself :-)

I just finished Stiffs and Swine by J.B. Stanley, the 4th book in the Supper Club series.   This series started out to be about a group of friends on a diet together, but although the books still have the theme of food, the food and the recipes included are usually drool inducing but NOT diet friendly.  In this book, the Supper Club members were judging a BBQ contest while staying at a local B&B - so the recipes were all BBQ or B&B related.   The recipe for cheesy grits contained a whole pound of cheddar cheese and 3/4 cup of real butter :-)   But I've grown very fond of the characters in the series - especially the main character James Henry - so I keep reading the series.  In tone, this series reminds me a lot of The Cat Who series for some reason.  Maybe that's because the main character is male, which is somewhat rare in the cozy mystery world.

Last night I started Cruel& Unusaual by Patricia Cornwell. It's the fourth book in Kay Scarpetta series I really like the first three books I should like this as well.

I started A Discovery of Witches nearly two weeks ago and I'm not even halfway through it.  It is reeeeaaaallllyyyyy slow.  There is a lot of repetition of little details that is really annoying as well. Not sure if I will DNF or not. The book is not awful it's just not holding my attention.

Just finished listening to The Fort by Bernard Cornwell, mostly because the book is set on Penobscot Bay and in Castine, aka Majabigwiduce, during the revolutionary war.  This is very must an historical novel filled with blood and broken bones.  Paul Revere is seen in a very different light in this one.

I'm not sure what I'll pick up next...

Finished up listening to Naked Heat and started listening to A Murderous Procession - the 4th in the Mistress in the Art of Death series.  This one is read by a different reader and I'm not thrilled with her.  She's terribly annoying and is sort of getting in the way of the story.  Am almost finished reading Mystery, Kellerman's latest. It's only "meh".  Not sure what is up next

Working on The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen.  It's pretty good but I'm just not getting through it very fast.  Story of the year for me.

We've had storms again today and flooding in much of the city and state.  More rain and storms expected tonight and tomorrow.  Arkansas could really use a few days of sunshine.  Even with such a dreary day and no cable tv, I have not been able to read.  Don't know what my problem is.

Having said that, I can't help but feel sick for all the victims of last weeks storms all over the South.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the weather in the last couple weeks.  I hope all PBS members are safe.

Terri

I ended up skimming the last half of The Clovis Incident and will not continue with the series.  It just seemed to wander all over the place and the mystery didn't gel for me.  Plus, the main character is addicted to canned whipped cream.  Bizarre.

 I have picked up Camille MInichino's The Hydrogen Murder and this one seems okay so far.

Am almost finished with The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton. This book won the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Novel during the Mystery Writers of America's annual banquet last Thursday. This is the second Edgar that Hamilton has captured. I'm enjoying this book immensely.

2011 Edgar winners are:

Best Novel

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books)

Best Fact Crime

Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime and Complicity by Ken Armstrong & Nick Perry (University of Nebraska Press – Bison Original)

Best Juvenile

The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler (Albert Whitman & Co.)

Best Young Adult

The Interrogation of Gabriel James by Charlie Price (Farrar, Straus, Giroux Books for Young Readers)

The Simon & Schuster-Mary Higgins Clark Award

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Raven Awards

Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore (Chicago, IL)
Once Upon a Crime Bookstore (Minneapolis, MN)

LeeAnne, I felt the same way about The Clovis Incident when I tried to read it a few years ago. It was sort of awkward because the author was part of an online mystery group I was in...I just quietly closed the book and didn't say anything. LOL I was very surprised that it was nominated for "best first novel" Agatha award the year it came out...one of the reasons I don't much pay attention to the awards...quite often I disagree mightily with whomever is making those choices.

Anna, I was very happy to see Once Upon a Crime (one of my local mystery bookstores) honored--they did a big write-up in the paper about it here. Gary and Pat are wonderful folks and they do a lot for the local mystery writers here in the Minneapolis area.

As for me and what I'm reading, I picked up A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read last night for my bedtime read...big mistake! I had a hard time putting it down and turning the light off. I think it's going to be a good 'un...this is the one I chose for the Challenge where the author's initials and mine match. I finished up the latest No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in audio last night, will find something else to download tonight.

Oops, edited to add--Twill, I felt the same way about the reader for A Murderous Procession...I remember something being off, and hadn't even realized that they'd changed readers--I think because I read some of those in print. Sad that the author passed away a few months ago...I think she had one more Adelia book completed and that will be it. :(

Cheryl

Having said that, I can't help but feel sick for all the victims of last weeks storms all over the South.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the weather in the last couple weeks.  I hope all PBS members are safe. 

Well said, Terri. I second your thoughts and prayers.

I am currently reading the 8th in the Maggie O'dell series by Alex Kava, Damaged. I did not want to set it down at lunch time, so that bodes well, lol! I may use this to fill the North America part of the challenge (I keep getting sidetracked by non-challenge reads!) and follow that with Wild Indigo by Sandi Ault.

Edited for title correction.

Terri, is that Sandi Ault book Wild Indigo?

LOL! Yes, LeeAnne, you are correct. It is Wild Indigo. I will blame the cold medication for that little blunder ;)

Happy May everyone!  Having a hard time believing it's May already!!

I'm still reading The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman.  I'm enjoying it, but haven't gotten very far into it yet.

I've also started (and should finish tomorrow) the second book in Beverly Connor's Lindsay Chamberlain series--Questionable Remains.  Don't know why I enjoy Beverly Connor's books so much, but I really do.

In addition I'm about 1/4 of the way into the second book in Jacqueline Winspear's Masie Dobbs Series--Birds of a Feather. 

Terri--I have Wild Indigo in my TBR pile...If/when you do read it, I'll be interested in what you think.

I just edited my list to remove Malicious Intent by Kathryn Fox, which I intended to read for the continent bonus (Australia). It didn't keep my attention well enough - and two books I wanted to read far more arrived - and I was out of town for a retreat, followed by a district meeting - and then the book had to be returned to the library! I might try it again.

The books I wanted to read? The first one was One Was a Soldier by Jullia Spencer-Fleming, which was just outstanding! It also counted for one of the challenge categories. A couple months ago I read the first in this series. When I was done I went back to the library, checked out all the others, and read them one after another. Just gorged myself on JSF's writing. The second was The Sentry by Robert Crais. I have two 'must read' authors, one male & one female, Crais is one of them. The Sentry was very good; I like that Crais is featuring Joe Pike more - not that I don't love Elvis Cole, but Pike is such an enigma that each time a little more about him is revealed is like being handed a piecethat you've been looking for from a jigsaw puzzle.

I'm currently reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher, first in the Harry Dresden series - after listening to James Marsters read Side Jobs I decided I wanted to try the novels. I'm kind of missing Marsters' voice, though. Maybe I'll get the next one in audio form.

As usual, I have far too many books waiting to be read. I'm beginning a new job today which is really going to cut into my pleasure reading, but I'm NOT complaining! I've been searching for a position for over a year.

Lori Hl.

Lori, I hear you about the Dresden books...I read the first five or six in print and then discovered the audio version...don't think I could ever go back now.

Re: JSF...I read the first two books in the series, but I am not a fan of romance taking over the mystery storylines, and it felt like that was what was going to happen, so I decided to stop there. I also found myself getting angry because it seemed like the author kept putting Clare into "fem-jep" (feminine jeopardy) and needing rescuing an awful lot...and for someone purportedly so very smart, she did a lot of really stupid things. That said, I *love* the author's writing style, so I thought long and hard about exiting the series before I did.

I could not read a series one after another like that anymore because I did it a few times several years ago and got totally burned out on the series, even though I initially just loved them. Now I space series well out with usually at least a month or two between books...which explains why I am in the middle of so many different series! I'm making more of a concerted effort this year to catch up with some though before I start new ones.

Cheryl

I started to read Legally Dead by Edna Buchnan Saturday evening and finished it Sunday afternoon!  When I woke Sunday I wanted to read but went to do some gardening instead.  When I came in I couldn't resist.  It just kept me glued. 

Then I went on to a paranormal for a change of pace, Fangs But No Fangs by Kathy Love, book 2 of the series. 

So, now, what to read, what to read?  Ah, the latest Sookie Stqckhouse that arrived today!

I just finished SHAKEN by Konrath. Even though it flashed back and forth from today to the earliest book, I "loved' it. I did not start reading the series until 2010 and could not "get enough" of Jack Daniels. It was a fresh series from Evanovich.

Has anyone read any of Konrath's other books? Or  read any of the books written by the author mentioned in his last book?

Mary

I finished To Fetch A Thief today.  It was great as usual, just a couple small things that annoyed me.  I do love Chet though.  The reader makes you believe that he is Chet.

HOT MONEY BY Dick Francis ( a re-read) but loved anything Francis wrote. THIS IS FOR A CHALLENGE AND CANNOT WAIT TO RE-READ

LOST RIVER  by Stephen Booth ONE OF MY FAV AUTHORS & JUST RECEIVED BOOK FROM UK

THE DEVIL'S EDGE  BY Stephen Booth  ONE OF MY FAV AUTHORS & JUST RECEIVED BOOK FROM UK

I am 1@4 for the audio.

Hope you had NO FLOODS.

Mary

I've got   Hunting a Detroit Tiger by Troy Soos   loaded on my MP3 player to start listening to tonight--and another couple of books "in transit" to my library to pick up over the weekend.

I just tucked Walking the Perfect Square by Reed Farrel Coleman (Moe Prager mystery #1) in my purse to start at lunch today. I'm also in the midst of A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read, and it is very hard to set down each night when I need to get the lights out and sleep!

Cheryl

I just finished MoonLight Downs by Adrian Hyland. It is set in Australia, loved the setting and characters but the plot dragged a bit in middle. Loved the discussion of Australian dessert.

Alice

I'm down to the last CD in ISLE OF DOGS/Cornwell. What a strange - um, unusual - book. I'm wondering if it would have made a different impression on me if I'd read it.

Still reading her HORNET'S NEST but had to set it aside to read requested books.

Gail

I just finished reading Fundraising the Dead, the first in a new series by Sheila Connolly.  I love her Orchard series, and this one looks just as good.